Whatâ€™s worth more to youâ€”a bit of pocket change or a better experience on your Android phone?

Thatâ€™s the question posed byÂ Locket, a free app that will pay you to replace your Android lock screen with one that shows advertisements. Every time you turn on your phone and swipe to unlock, Locket rewards you with a penny, with Locket currently capping payments at 3 cents an hour.

The idea, of course, is that those payouts add up over time. Assuming you take full advantage of Locketâ€™s offer, and youâ€™re awake with your phone nearby for 16 hours of the day, you could earn 48 cents each day. Thatâ€™s a maximum of $175.20 per year if youâ€™re extremely dedicated to the task.

Users can also earn extra money by referring friends to the app, at a current rate of $1 per friend. Locket also says it sometimes gives bonuses to loyal users. Once youâ€™ve accrued $10, you cash in on your big payday via Paypal.

Thereâ€™s just one major catch: Locket is a full-blown lock screen replacement, not just something that floats on top of your existing lock screen. Whatever lock screen features you get from your current phone get overridden by Locket.

For instance, you canâ€™t use app shortcuts on theÂ HTC OneÂ orÂ Samsung Galaxy S4Â to jump directly into your phoneâ€™s camera, email or browser. For phones running Android 4.2 or higher, using Locket means giving upÂ lock screen widgets, so you can no longer glance at weather, notifications, or other information. You can no longer control music from your lock screen, and if you have a phone that opens directly to your PIN or security pattern, Locket will appear first, adding an extra step to unlocking your phone.

If none of those things matter to you, then maybe you can make some extra cash with Locket. Just keep in mind that by adding some advertisements to your lock screen, youâ€™re also giving up some of Androidâ€™s usefulness.

How it works

*Â Sign up for a PayPal account (if you don’t already have one)

* Get locket from the Google Play Store and give them the email ID associated with your PayPal account.
* The app replaces your lockscreen and delivers a targeted (and attractive) advertisement.

* You can interact with the ad or just unlock your phone â€” you get paid either way. A built in algorithm won’t pay out if you keep locking and unlocking the phone to get money. If you use and interact more with the app, it pays out more.

GeeksPhone, the Spanish manufacturer that’s making the first Firefox OS phones for developers, has startedÂ acceptingÂ orders for its two phones, Keon and Peak. The company is shipping the phones, worldwide.

While Keon is available at a price of $119 (approximately Rs. 6,445), the Peak smartphone has been priced at $194 (approximately Rs. 10,500). At the time of writing this post, the phones are no longer in stock. We’re not sure if the company plans to replenish stocks in the coming days but this indicates that there’s a good developer interest in Mozilla’s Firefox Mobile OS as it took only a few hours for the stocks to finish.

The Keon is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 1Ghz processor, has 512MB RAM and features 4GB of internal memory. It features a 4.3-inch qHD IPS screen, an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel front camera.

The Peak is powered by a 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and sports a 4.3-inch qHD IPS screen. It also features an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel front camera.

The phones were firstÂ unveiledÂ in January.

It’s worth pointing out that these phones are targeted at developers who are working on apps for the Firefox OS and might not offer full functionality as Firefox OS is still evolving. The consumer devices running Firefox OS areÂ expectedÂ to launch by summer in Brazil, Colombia, Hungary, Mexico, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Spain and Venezuela. Mozilla plans to reach 11 more markets by the end of the year, and the US in 2014.

Mozilla had first previewed the Firefox Mobile OS in February during the Mobile World Congress. With Firefox OS, the foundation aims to offer entry-level devices and plans to bring mobile web content directly to users with web apps. Phone makers that plan to make Firefox phones include Huawei and ZTE of China, LG of Korea and Sony. All the phones will run on chips supplied by Qualcomm.

BlackBerry says it sold about 1 million of its critically important new BlackBerry 10 devices and returned to profitability in the fourth quarter.

The earnings provide a first glimpse of how BlackBerry’s new touch-screen Z10 is selling internationally and in Canada since its debut January 31. Details on the US launch are not part of Thursday’s financial results because the Z10 just went on sale in the US last week.

In the quarter that ended March 2, BlackBerry earned $98 million, or 19 cents a share, compared with a loss of $125 million, or 24 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 36 percent to $2.7 billion, from $4.2 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected $2.82 billion.

The company also announced that co-founder Mike Lazaridis will retire as vice chairman and director.

Fancy a smartphone with a sapphire crystal screen, or one encrusted with precious stones.

Taking aim at consumers with deep pockets, Vertu – a former unit of Finland’s Nokia Oyj – is among just a few of the companies that have come up with niche handsets with swanky features to help customers stand out from crowds of more plebeian phones.

Vertu, whose phones are said by the media to be popular with celebrities like Madonna and David Beckham, rolled out the leather-clad TI in Hong Kong.

Costing as much as HK$167,000 ($21,410), the TI – which is cased in titanium – runs Google’s Android operating system and has a ruby key for access to concierge services.

“It’s not selling a phone. It’s selling a lifestyle for Vertu, so there will be people who get hooked to it, especially for people who want to feel privileged,” said Teck Zhung Wong, an IDC analyst in Singapore.

With the demand for smartphones rising sharply globally, traditional makers of networking and connectivity equipment have been hoping to bank on the booming market.

Major markets for luxury phones include China, Japan, Russia and the United States, Euromonitor said.

In China, the world’s largest mobile phone market, the market size for luxury phones alone is expected to grow to 1.64 billion yuan ($260 million) in 2017, up nearly 60 per cent from 1.05 billion yuan in 2012.

The TI joins earlier Vertu offerings, such as a handset created with French jeweler Boucheron that is made from gold and encrusted with precious stones.

While not as heavy on the bling, Russia’s Yota Devices will also plunge into the Asian smartphone fray with the YotaPhone, which has an LCD screen on one side and an e-reader display on the other, in the hopes of appealing to readers on the road.

“If you look at the big brands, in the last six years, there was not much innovation in the user experience space,” Vlad Martynov, CEO of Yota Devices, told Reuters in Hong Kong.

Yota plans to launch the phone in the third quarter in Russia initially and to global markets after that, with pricing not yet set but likely to run to several hundred US dollars. The target is to sell about one million units in the first 10 months after its global launch.

Vertu and Yota Devices join more established vendors such as the France-based Atelier Haute Communications, which works with TAG Heuer and other luxury firms to create bespoke handsets.

Yet how well the new phones will sell in their target Asian market remains to be seen.

The YotaPhone, for example, may sell well in certain nations, but for China, it could be tough, analysts said.

“I think it might prove a bit more difficult to sell because there are a lot of cheap e-readers around,” Wong said. “So I’m not sure whether people want a phone that mimics an e-reader functionality.”

Samsung has launched a series of ‘smart feature phones’ under the moniker of REX. The four touch-screen, dual-SIM models, REX 60, REX 70, REX 80, REX 90, under the series, have been priced between Rs. 4,280 and Rs 6,490.

All the phones support Smart Dual SIM allowing users to receive calls on the standby SIM as call waiting when the user is on a call through the primary SIM. The REX 70 and REX 90 also offer true ‘hot swap’ for the SIM cards, which essentially means that the user will not need to restart their phones. None of the phones are 3G enabled, however, the REX 80 and REX 90 phones support Wi-Fi connectivity. The company claims that the phones have been developed in India, and will be introduced across other growing markets.

The phones are based on Samsung’s own feature phone OS featuring Samsung’s Touchwiz User Interface (the company has integrated the same UI on its Galaxy range of Android phones) and support Java apps. The phones come preloaded with Facebook, Twitter, ChatOn, Google Talk and other messaging and social apps. Samsung has also preloaded 10 full version games from Gameloft. All phones also feature an FM radio tuner and support FM recording.

The REX 60 sports a 2.8-inch QVGA responsive (resistive) touch display, has a 1.3-Megapixel camera, and a 1000 mAh battery, promising a talk time of up to 15 hours. The phone also features a microSD card slot supporting cards up to 16GB of memory.

The REX 70 features a 3-inch capacitive QVGA display, a 2-megapixel shooter and expandable memory up to 32GB. The phone has a 1000 mAh battery, promising a talk time of up to 13 hours

The REX 80 also sports a 3-inch capacitive QVGA display, and a 3-megapixel camera. It also offers Wi-Fi connectivity and has a 1000 mAh battery promising 14 hours 40 minutes of talktime.

The REX 90 has a 3.5-inch capacitive HVGA display, a 3.2-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi connectivity and a 1000 mAh battery promising 15 hours of talk time. Samsung is also offering some content services including My Movies, music and live TV services, with the Rex 90.

Samsung India has dropped the price of its flagship smartphone the Galaxy S III, as well as the hot-selling phablet the Galaxy Note II.

Samsung Galaxy S III is now available in official retail stores across the country for Rs. 28,990, with the Galaxy Note II now retailing for Rs. 34,990. Some dealers have been spotted selling at even lower prices online as well as offline.

Samsung launched the Galaxy S III in India back in May last year for a MRP of Rs. 43,180. The phone comes with a 4.8-inch display and is powered by a 1.4GHz quad-core processor alongside 1GB of RAM. It features a 8-megapixel rear camera as well as a 1.9-megapixel front camera. The phone shipped with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich but has since received the Jelly Bean Update.

Samsung Galaxy S III has been runaway success for Samsung, with the company revealing in November that it had sold over 30 million units since the phone’s launch in May. The phone briefly became the best-selling phone in the United States before Apple launched iPhone and reclaimed the crown it has held for a very long time.

Samsung Galaxy Note II is the successor to the Galaxy Note original phablet that started the craze of large-screen phones.

The Galaxy Note II was introduced at IFA 2012. The phone was launched in India last September carrying a price tag of Rs. 39,990. The Galaxy Note II sports a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED HD display and is powered by a 1.6GHz quad-core processor with 2GB of RAM. It has a 3100mAh battery and has 16GB internal storage expandable up to 64 GB via microSD card.

It features an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 1.9-megapixel front camera. Like its predecessor, the phablet comes with the S-Pen stylus for taking notes on the device. In terms of connectivity, Samsung Galaxy Note II offers 4G, 3G, 2G, Wi-Fi, NFC, USB 2.0 and Bluetooth 4.0.

In November, Samsung announced sales of this phablet had topped 3 million units in the first 5 weeks. By the end of the month, the Korean manufacturer reported that the sales of its device topped 5 million, barely two months since the phablet started shipping.

Together, the Samsung Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II, along with other Galaxy series smartphones, powered Samsung to record profits in 2012.

The first batch of smartphones running the HTML 5-based Firefox OS have been unveiled. Meet the GeekPhone Keon and Peak – a duo of early Firefox OS-running smartphones targeted at app designers and developers to start building the upcoming OS’ app ecosystem.

What you see above is the GeekPhone Peak, which is the more powerful of the two. It sports a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 chip with 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage.
With a 4.3″ qHD IPS display, the Peak packs an 8MP main camera with LED flash and 2MP front-facing one. The smartphone is housing a 1800mAh battery, a microSD card slot and the usual array of smartphone sensors and connectivity options.

Next up is the brightly colored Keon sporting a unique Firefox-inspired orange paintjob. The smartphone runs on a Snapdragon S1 CPU clocked at 1GHz with 512MB of RAM and packs a 3.5″ HVGA display.

Internal storage is 4GB and despite its low-end nature, GeekPhone has thrown in a microSD card slot. The only camera is at the back and it features a 3MP senor and no flash. Under the orange back panel resides a 1580mAh battery.
GeekPhone says both Firefox OS developer smartphones will be available starting next month, but is mum on the pricing. However, judging from their specs and the budget-oriented nature of Firefox OS, they shouldn’t cost too dearly.

Seeking to capitalize on a major legal victory over its rivalÂ Samsung Electronics,AppleÂ has asked a federal court in a separate case to find that four additionalÂ Samsungproducts, including theÂ Galaxy S III, infringeApple’s patents.

In February, Apple alleged that at least 17Samsung productsÂ infringe its patents. In a court filing made in San Jose federal court on Friday, Apple added four more products to the list of allegedly infringing products that have been released beginning in August 2011 and continuing through this month.

Apple won a major victory over Samsung last Friday in a separate case when a jury found that the South Korean company had copied critical features of the hugely popularÂ iPhoneÂ andÂ iPadÂ and awarded the US company $1.05 billion in damages.

Samsung representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The case is US District Court, Northern District of California, Apple vs Samsung Electronics, et al 12-00630.

Nokia might have plans to close Meltemi, the company’s low-priced smartphone project, but company isn’t moving away from low-end smartphones. Company reaffirmed its commitment to Windows Phone and revealed that it will launch smartphones even cheaper than Nokia Lumia 610, which is selling for around 140 pounds in the UK.

Nokia is also getting support from Microsoft to get the Windows Phone device prices down. Company CEO Stephen Elop told on a conference call that Nokia had planned to go lower than 610, but with support from Microsoft’s engineering teams they have identified ways to go even lower.

If Nokia is able to do that, it wouldn’t take long for sub-Rs. 10,000 Windows Phone devices to land in India.

Elop also stated that Nokia is heavily involved with Microsoft’s engineering efforts to push Windows Phone in emerging markets like China and India.

Nokia has decided to add full-touch handsets in its feature-phone line-up Asha. The touch device range includes Asha 305, 306, and 311 phones, which have 3-inch touchscreen display and run on Asha Touch user interface.

Nokia Asha range was first introduced in October last year and includes 10 models, which are available in over 130 countries right now.

The Nokia Asha 305, Asha 306 and Asha 311 offer a fully re-designed touch user interface, and are targeted at young urban buyers. Consumers will have access to 10,000 web apps as well as 25,000 regular apps via Nokia store on the new phones.

Asha touch phones also feature an updated web browser, which on the lines of Opera Mini, reduces data usage by up to 90%. This is not all, as the phones also come with 40 free games from EA including Tetris, Bejeweled, Need for Speed – The Run and EA SPORTS FIFA 1.

The estimated retail price for Nokia Asha 305 is EUR 63 and it’s expected to start shipping in the second quarter of 2012. Nokia Asha 306 and Asha 311 will be sold for EUR 68 and EUR 92 respectively. Both devices are expected to start shipping in the third quarter of 2012.